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About DutchTrig®

Integrated elm management programme

To retain elms, conducting an integrated elm management programme is essential. In addition to inventories, inspections, phytosanitary measures and monitoring, injecting elms with DutchTrig® is one of the basics in an elm management programme.

Why DutchTrig®?

DutchTrig® makes it possible to retain existing healthy trees so that greenspaces, long-established tree lined avenues and parks with beautiful mature trees, can be retained for future generations and reduce the cost of sanitation felling.

What is DutchTrig®

DutchTrig® is a biological and organic control agent. This vaccine consists of spores of a specific strain of Verticillium fungus that activates the elm’s natural defence mechanism.

How does it work?

In practice, it can be compared with an influenza vaccination. Instead of making healthy elms sick, DutchTrig® ensures that they respond sufficiently to infection by Dutch Elm Disease. In other words, it induces an immune response. Because elm trees grow a new outer layer of sapwood every year, the treatment has to be repeated every spring.

When is DutchTrig® effective?

DutchTrig® is effective for all elm species and cultivars of any age all around the world:

when used on healthy trees

when injected on an annual basis

The vaccine has no curative properties. Vaccinating elm trees which already have Dutch Elm Disease or have had contact via root grafts with previously infected elms is of no use.

Is DutchTrig® harmfull?

DutchTrig® is safe for people, animals and the environment because Verticillium is not a human or an animal pathogen and has no chemical or toxic substances. DutchTrig® has been injected into several tree species to see if the vaccine would induce any wilting. None of the injected species showed any signs of wilting after injection.